More and more small- and medium-size companies are allowing full-time employees to work shorter hours so they can spend more time with their families.

The move is likely to help housewives, regarded as an untapped labor supply, to play a part in resolving Japan's labor shortage amid its falling birthrate and aging population.

At an office of Kyujin Kikaku, a Nagoya-based recruitment ad company, three women are sitting around a table typing at computers.